Arrivederci Venezia

As I bid a fond arrivederci to Venezia (one of the most magical, mystical, marvelistical places on earth), I want to highlight two young graphic design studios from the region. The first is Oxstudio (above), named after the trusty old ox or, plural, oxen, which is an interdisciplinary collective with a fresh DIY eye. They include Emiliano Marton, Neill Kidgell, and Eleonora Marton, who also publishes with Automatic Books. The other is the design duo Tankboys (below), based on the Island of Giudecca, Venice, and founded by Lorenzo Mason and Marco Campardo. They are also co-founders of Automatic Books, which specializes in quirky pics and lists in a quick copy but well designed manner.

Each were sponsors of The Session X at Fondazione Claudio Buziol in Venice on June 4. The workshop theme was “From Boring to Interesting” addressed the process of creating an interesting solution to a boring brief. It was borrowed from Bob Gill’s dictum: “If a client asks for a poster for shoes, that is not a problem. You
have to stay with him until you formulate a real problem. You’ve got to
redefine it until it’s interesting. If you don’t have an interesting
problem, you can’t make an interesting solution.” More about Session X here.

About Steven Heller

Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes a weekly column for The Atlantic online and is the "Visuals" Columnist for the New York Times Book Review. He is also the author of over 160 books on design and visual culture. And he is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.